Thursday, October 11, 2012

A little satisfaction

For the first time I cut, fit, and finished a garment in one evening. A lot of accomplished sewers do this, but I have never been able to. Especially with a new pattern. Of course, it's just a simple tee shirt, but this is a good step forward for me to feel that I am closer to my goal of becoming an "intermediate" level sewer. The jacket above is also a pretty good effort, as the only trouble I had was with the sleeve linings...they did not quite fit well enough to do a clean, pretty finish on the inside seams. Other than that, however, I am quite pleased as the only use this jacket will have is on the tennis court. I was so tickled at the Scottie fabric that I went back for more and plan to make a matching tennis skirt. I'm also downloading SureFit Design's new leggings pattern, as leggings make a lot of sense in the cooler weather when we are playing tennis. So I hope to be both cozy and stylish on the courts this winter! The tee shirt is the Palmer Pletsch McCall's 6571, which has an extensive set of instructions. I have their videos and books, but this is the first time I've actually used their method for a FBA. I usually use my blueprint from SureFit, but this time I did not want a bust dart. It worked out well enough that I'll use the pattern again for most knits. I plan to sew several knits in the next few weeks, as I want a really nice dancing wardrobe for the cruise.